Dragon Kin
by Casa Circe
Summary: "Awaken," the voice orders. And Dilandau finds himself face to face with the largest and most vicious land dragons he has ever encountered, a creature thought only to have existed in legend. It seems like Destiny has more plans for the silver-haired soldier. Posted for Dilandau's birthday. 08-08-14


**Dragon Kin**

_Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne or Dilandau but that doesn't stop me from celebrating his birthday with my crazy one-shots._

_NOTE: My annual attempt to bring Dilandau back into the world. This time involves tweaking some of Gaea's dragon lore. It was a fun idea to explore._

_It started out really seriously and then I just let my weird sense of humor take over and so here we are. Enjoy._

_Happy birthday, Dilandau!_

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Fire.

Life.

What he would give to feel even the slightest warmth, to feel anything at all. But there was nothing. He was nothing, stuck in some intolerable limbo that he could never escape.

How long had he been here? He had no idea. The few memories that he had managed to keep were rapidly fading away. He wondered how he was even barely conscious. He would say that he was drowning if there was any sort of substance surrounding him. But there was nothing. Just an empty darkness.

And then, a flicker of light. He blinked. Could it be possible? Was he dreaming? Was he dead?

Another spark.

No, this was REAL. But how could it be? Did that even matter? All he had wanted was to escape and now, somehow, there was a way.

Then, he heard a voice, a low, almost grumble of a voice calling him. It did not sound human but it seemed ancient, like a call from the deepest caverns of the earth.

_"Awaken,"_ it said, _"Dilandau Albatou."_

"I guess that's my cue," he thought smugly, and the return of his capacity for sarcasm was incredibly invigorating.

With some effort, he opened his eyes. It took several moments for them to adjust and he tried to make sense of his surroundings. He seemed to be in the middle of some kind of forest.

"You've got to be kidding me," was his first thought after regaining consciousness.

For he found himself face to face with the largest and most vicious land dragons he had ever encountered, a creature thought only to have existed in legend. Dilandau saw his reflection in the dragon's massive pupil and he instinctively reached for his sword but of course, it was not there. He was alive but naked and completely at the mercy of the monster.

"So I was brought back only to be devoured by this beast," he thought with bitter resignation, "I suppose a proper death is better than what I had before."

_"And what makes you think I'm going to kill you?"_

Dilandau blinked. As far as anyone on Gaea knew, dragons did not have the capacity to communicate with humans.

_"Proof of humanity's utter ignorance."_

"Great, he reads minds too," Dilandau though, rolling his eyes. But he felt less threatened now and saw that the giant dragon was looking at him curiously.

_"Very few humans have been fortunate enough to understand the noble and ancient language of the dragons. And even then, the exchanges were usually very brief."_

"Was that because you ate them afterwards?" Dilandau asked unabashedly. He thought he saw a dragon's equivalent of a smile.

_"You ought to know better. You've met one of the rare few we have spoken to."_

Dilandau frowned and reflected for a moment before rolling his eyes again. "Of course," he declared sarcastically, "this sounds just like the kind of thing that would happen to Folken. So is he here too?"

_"You need not concern yourself about him. It is your destiny you must consider now."_

"How am I even here?"

"_Our energists have been powering your giant armors for years. Did you really think bringing one person to life was beyond our abilities?"_

"Fine. So why did you bring me back, anyway?"

_"All in good time. Suffice to say that you are to be one of us now."_

Dilandau immediately checked his body for scales and a tale. To his relief, he was still human flesh and blood. He felt the dragon's amused gaze on him.

_"Not a dragon, but one of our kin, the first of a new generation of a race that died out long ago. You have much still to learn and now is only the beginning. You shall live and fight among us and have powers and adventures you could never have imagined."_

The silver-haired soldier could not help but smile. Incredibly strange as this whole thing was, it was living. And after the emptiness he had endured, he was willing to accept anything.

"Fine," he conceded, though he knew he was not in any position to refuse, "not that I'm complaining, but why choose me? I was, after all, known as the leader of the Dragonslayers."

Again, he thought he saw the dragon smile and there was even a mischievous twinkle in the enormous eye.

_"A little known fact about Gaean dragons is that we derive immense enjoyment from irony."_


End file.
